1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for finishing an elongate slide fastener chain, and more particularly to an apparatus for cutting off excessive or unnecessary portions from reinforcing strips or webs of synthetic resin film which are attached to an elongate slide fastener chain at regular longitudinally spaced intervals across element-free gaps or spaces of the chain, in the manufacture of separable slide fasteners having disengageable pin and box connectors mounted at ends thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Separable slide fasteners have a box on an end of one slide fastener stringer and a pin on an end of the opposite or companion slide fastener stringer, the pin being removably inserted in the box for combining the stringers together. Such separable slide fasteners are manufactured from an elongate slide fastener chain composed of a pair of slide fastener stringers coupled together by a pair of intermeshing rows of coupling elements. The slide fastener chain has a plurality of reinforcing strips or webs attached to the stringer tapes across element-free gaps or spaces located at regular intervals along the chain. The slide fastener chain is cut off successively across the reinforcing strips to produce individual slide fastener lengths.
It has been customary practice to trim each of the reinforcing strips by removing excessive portions therefrom before the slide fastener chain is severed into the independent slide fastener lengths. Conventional arrangements for cutting off excessive portions from a reinforcing strip are disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 55-118705 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-52561, for example. The disclosed arrangements have a vertically movable cutter punch for severing the reinforcing strip while the elongate fastener chain is positioned on a flat support surface. Since the stringer tapes are normally of woven or knit fabric, they can easily be varied dimensionally when stretched or tensioned. Therefore, the fastener chain tends to be displaced to bring the reinforcing strip out of alignment with the cutter punch. As a result, the conventional apparatus has failed to trim the reinforcing strip has been apt undesirably to leave a portion of the reinforcing strip uncut, which portion accurately, or keeps the fastener stringers interconnected.